Gail Simone

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Gail Simone is an American comic book writer best known for her work on DC's Birds of Prey and Secret Six. She was also the longest-running female writer of Wonder Woman to date. She is known for her outspoken views on gender, sexual orientation, and race, which is reflected in her work.

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Simone studied theater at the University of Oregon[1], and then went on to become a hairdresser. Though she had been a huge fan of comic books as a child, she had stopped reading them in the late-'80s, during the "grim and gritty" era. She rediscovered her love for the medium after reading Mark Waid and Alex Ross's Kingdom Come.[2]

Though she had embraced the medium, she was bothered by the sexism she percieved in the stories in superhero comics. She compiled a list of events in which female characters were either maimed, killed, raped, depowered, or otherwise suffered because of their gender (as with rape or miscarriage) or as mere plot device in order to motivate male characters. She titled the list "Women in Refrigerators," after an event in Green Lantern where Kyle Rayner's girlfriend was killed and her body stuffed into his refrigerator by a supervillain. The list, once posted on the Internet, unleashed a firestorm of discussion and controversy, one result of which was that she was given a regular column on Comic Book Resources called "You'll All Be Sorry!"

Her column was a satirical take on comics and the industry, and in the course of its tenure, she wrote a number of parody scripts. Those parodies brought her to the attention of Matt Groening's Bongo Comics, and she was hired to write stories for The Simpsons Comics. Soon thereafter, she was hired by Marvel to write Deadpool, and its succesor Agent X. She left Agent X after a conflict with the series' editor, but returned briefly to write its concluding arc.

Simone's first major success occured when she moved to DC and took over writing their all-women team, Birds of Prey, which she wrote for nearly five years. Also during that time, she had brief runs on Action Comics, The Legion, The All-New Atom and a revived Gen13 for the Wildstorm imprint. In addition, she scripted miniseries such as Rose & Thorn and Villains United, the latter of which became the basis of another miniseries and later ongoing title called Secret Six. In 2007, she left Birds of Prey to take over Wonder Woman, writing the series for two years, becoming the title's longest running female writer (though contrary to popular reports she was far from the first; she was preceded by Joye Hummel Murchison, Dann Thomas, Mindy Newell, Trina Robbins, and Jodi Picoult). She left Wonder Woman to relaunch a new Birds of Prey series in 2010.

Her creator-owned work includes Welcome to Tranquility, about a community of retired superheroes, and Killer Princesses, with Lea Hernandez. She also contributed to Comic Book Tattoo, an anthology based on Tori Amos songs.

Simone wrote for a few DC animated projects, including an episode of Justice League Unlimited called "Double Date", and an episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, featuring the Birds of Prey. She also wrote the original story for the 2009 animated Wonder Woman movie, which was subsequently scripted by Michael Jelenic.

In 2007, Thomasina Lindo of Welcome to Tranquility was named Best Female Character in the Glyph Comics Awards.
In 2009, Simone was entered into the Friends of Lulu Hall of Fame.
She has also been nominated for the GLAAD award several times for her portrayals of LGBT characters.